Return To Camp Green Lake
by Katie Darren
Summary: Stanley has done something bad again, but he's tougher. He returns with Zero to Camp Green Lake and this time it's all changed and the Warden is looking for something else...


Stanley has done something bad again, but he's tougher. He returns with Zero to Camp Green Lake and this time it's all changed and the warden is looking for something else...  
  
Disclaimer: I'm sorry, I don't own Camp Green Lake or any of the characters. They both belong to Louis Sachar, but don't sue me. There is one new character and she's mine. Mine, y'hear? Even Louis Sachar doesn't own her rights. And I won't let him own her...ever.  
  
Louis Sachar has complete rights to every character in this book except the new one, Kerry Zanzibar. My story is copyrighted, even if it doesn't have the © on it. I don't permit any copying so don't copy any of my stories, please.  
  
All I can say is that I am very proud of this story so please read and review. It'll make me very happy. Oh, I hate bad reviews. I'd hate it if you sent one, so try and sat you don't like my story in the nicest possible way...  
  
CHAPTER-ONE: BACK-AT-CAMP-GREEN-LAKE Stanley stood up with Zero, in the box, and cleared his throat. "We are sorry for what happened, but we can't change what we've done," he said. "We will accept our punishments without hassle."  
  
"Yeah," Zero agreed, ignoring the eye of his mother. He'd already been in court once, and he was sure that she wasn't very happy with him. She'd only agreed to come because he'd asked her to.  
  
"I'm tougher, by the way, and so is Zero," Stanley lied, regretting the last phrase he said. Zero wasn't tougher, and he knew it. But he was tougher. "Send us to Camp Green Lake, if you want."  
  
"I'm not tough," Zero hissed in his ear.  
  
"Right, two six-year sentences to Camp Green Lake passed," Judge Dunbar told the court, tapping his hammer. He turned to Stanley and Zero. "You have three hours to – "  
  
Stanley sighed.  
  
"– pack, we know," Zero finished.  
  
"What have I done?" Stanley mumbled, as Zero walked out the courtroom not too far behind him. "I've never been away that long."  
  
"Six years, you mean?" Zero asked. "Oh, that'll be no trouble."  
  
"For you, maybe," Stanley grumbled, pushing open the entrance-door and Zero followed him obediently. "I'm still overweight. X-Ray and Armpit will still...be there, but I heard there's a new girl."  
  
"What's her name?" Zero asked, curious.  
  
"Kerry Zanzibar," said Stanley in a flat tone. "I don't expect she'll be pretty – but we can only find out. Now, let's get this bus and get home. I'm not going to pack."  
  
Stanley waved his arms in the air, signalling the bus. Zero copied him, staring at him oddly.  
  
"What d'you mean?" Zero asked, as he boarded behind Stanley. He handed his fee to the bus driver and the bus driver handed him change. He walked towards the back of the bus.  
  
"What?" Stanley asked.  
  
"Why aren't you going to pack?" Zero said in disbelief. He got out two webs of candy (he'd bought them in honour of a new film at the cinema) and handed one to Stanley.  
  
Stanley licked it.  
  
"Well, I just thought I'd test Camp Green Lake's limits," he answered, staring at a dog through the window. He breathed on the glass and drew an onion in the condensation.  
  
"That was last time," Zero muttered.  
  
"Well, we might have to eat onions again this time," Stanley said in explanation as he rubbed off the picture. "Listen. Don't you think it helps to be prepared? That's all I'm doing."  
  
"No, you're an onion head," Zero told him. "You're not being prepared. All I can see is an onion head, onion face, onion eyes – "  
  
"Ok, I get it," Stanley mumbled sharply. "I was only trying to illustrate a point to you and if you don't want to hear it, fine."  
  
"Or see it," Zero interrupted with a large grin.  
  
"Or see it," Stanley agreed. "I suppose that's what illustrate means. A picture. If I were to paint a picture of my life, it'd just be grey all over. A grey splodge of paint just waiting to be spread."  
  
The bus tooted, stopped and the passengers got off. The bus driver turned round to Stanley and Zero. "Are you Stanley Yelnats and Hector Zeroni? Not getting off, eh, boys? Well, I suppose you can't anyway, since I have to take you two to Camp Green Lake and all."  
  
"Oh, no," Zero exclaimed, a look of horror on his face.  
  
"Darn right oh no, boys," said the bus driver, and pulled out of the bus stop.  
  
Stanley settled back in his seat. Then he jumped up from it. "Zero, I have just remembered – we've got no luggage."  
  
"We forgot it, but I don't think we'll need it," Zero said. "I've got a leaflet about Camp Green Lake here." He handed Stanley the leaflet, and they read through it together.  
  
"This is bad," Stanley whispered.  
  
"This is very bad," Zero whispered back.  
  
Six hours later, the bus arrived at Camp Green Lake. Stanley stared. It didn't even look like Camp Green Lake. It had completely changed. But there was one thing that made him sigh.  
  
The Warden and Mr Sir were coming towards him. "Well, that hasn't changed – right, Zero?" Stanley asked, his mouth dry.  
  
"Right," Zero said, staring around as his face started to crease up.  
  
He looked like he was going to cry.  
  
"Well well, Stanley and Zero are back," said the Warden. "Well, we need you to do a lot more digging. It's now two holes a day. Kerry Zanzibar will show you a shortcut to your cabin."  
  
"Cabin?" Stanley asked, amazed.  
  
"Yes, apparently tents weren't good enough," Mr Sir said. "We were allowed to re-open this camp but on the condition that two of our...um...prisoners shared a cabin, and that we provided better food and entertainment to make up for your labour."  
  
"I think it's rubbish," the Warden said. "It should be like olden days, when you two were here first. The authorities said that if we are making boys and girls do hard labour, digging holes, we had to at least make sure our facilities were fine by law and respectable and clean and legal."  
  
"And are they?" Stanley and Zero asked together.  
  
"You'll have to judge that yourselves," Mr Sir snapped.  
  
"Girls?" Stanley asked a minute later, when he'd realised what the Warden had just told them.  
  
"We're not telling anything more," Mr Sir told them. "Now, just come and get your work outfits and your shovels and then be off to bed. We're not saying one more bit of information tonight." 


End file.
